Suffer the Kingdom

The disciples in Mark’s gospel struggle to understand the Bible because they refuse to surrender their ideas to it. They approach Jesus with preconceived notions—of God, his Kingdom and his Messiah—that breakdown whenever Jesus speaks or takes action. The same is true of us. We approach Mark’s gospel with our ideas of its meaning and its symbols, only to flounder when our idols are smashed against the brick wall of the text. For example, what does the commandment, “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God,” actually mean? I’m willing to bet that you think you know exactly what it means, and that’s why you still don’t get it. Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 10:13-16.